Today DVFilm (dvfilm.com) releases EPIC I ("Epic One") for Mac, a DSLR editing Quicktime plug-in for use with Final Cut Pro 6 or 7.

Canon EOSdigital SLR's shoot amazing HD video with shallow depth of field and great low light sensitivity. However, one drawback is the H.264 codec these cameras use to record video. Most non-linear editing programs cannot play these files in real time unless you have an extremely fast computer. The footage must be transcoded to ProRes format or other intermediate formats before editing. This is where DVFilm Epic I (Epic One) for Mac comes in. The transcoding step is eliminated.

DVFilm Epic I for Mac is a real-time workflow tool that allows you to edit DSLR H.264 Quicktime files in real-time in Final Cut Pro using FCP's RT Extreme features, with no transcoding and no file swapping. It provides real-time editing, on practically any computer, without the tedious transcoding or Log and Transfer methods that slow down your workflow. The Epic I method is fully automated and prepares real-time playback in the background while you are editing. It works perfectly for the Canon 5d MkII, Canon 7d, Rebel T2i/550d and Rebel T1i/500d.

How does it work? It's easy! Start Epic I for Mac, drag your folder of DSLR clips into the Epic I Control Panel, and click "Scan Now." In moments, Epic I will automatically start Final Cut Pro and import your clips so you can begin editing. While you edit, Epic I works in the background preparing for real-time playback. When each clip is ready, playback instantly becomes real-time for that clip. However in the meantime, Epic allows you to perform most editing tasks such as trimming each clip, assembling clips on the sequence, choosing transitions and filters for effects or color correction. You can use the FCP RT Extreme menu to switch back and forth between full quality and the Epic RT mode. When you are finished with your edit, you simply export from your sequence to whatever is your final format. Epic automatically uses the original H.264 data at full quality for the export.

How does the Epic I DSLR workflow compare to other methods like proxy editing and transcoding? The Epic I DSLR workflow can be seen as taking the best of both methods with none of their inherent disadvantages. And it's faster, much faster.

Unlike conventional proxy editing methods, there is no file swapping to worry about because the switching between real-time and high-quality modes is handled transparently by the plug-in. Unlike transcoding, Epic I allows you start editing immediately without waiting for the transcoding to finish. Editing with Epic I for Mac is also superior in quality to transcoding methods, because it avoids lossy recompression of the original video. You always render from the original H.264 master files.